Saturday, July 30, 2016

Fun in K-town

The town I affectionately refer to as "K-town" is Kinston, NC. I attended my last two years of high school in this county in the eastern part of the state, and K-town won its way into my heart. Okay, I admit those fond memories have more to do with the people that I was hanging out with those days. One of my favorite old high school friends and one of the few that I still try to stay connected to is Regina. We just couldn't visit the New Bern area again which is less than 30 minutes from Kinston and not catch up with our pals, Regina and Cooper. Cooper and Evan are nearly the same age and really hit it off last summer. Life, work, etc. keeps us from getting together nearly as often as I would like, but I am thankful for these summer trips that are allowing us to hang out. Since we had done most of the sightseeing around New Bern last year, I wanted to hang out in Kinston for the day because I knew that there were some new additions to the town. It was never a very big town when we were younger and still isn't, but it has gotten a few more fun updates. I enjoyed seeing how this little town has grown and thrived through the years even through tough economic times. And of course, the company made it even better.

This water park has been built in recent years as a collaboration between Kinston's Parks and Rec Department and their local Woodmen of the World Insurance business. Mattox was still feeling a bit under the weather since our trip to the beach that weekend so he wasn't loving the water. He mostly sat with Mommy and Ms. Regina and watched the bigger boys play.

The boys loved the lazy river. Regina pointed out that it wasn't that "lazy" of a river for relaxing because you would frequently get sprayed with water as you floated along.

I thought Mattox would enjoy this little lion which was a small slide for the younger kids. He wasn't able to slide down by himself yet, and he wasn't happy about being put into the cool water. Brody, of course, loved the slide. There were 3 slides, but this one was the only one he was old enough to do although with a life vest, he would have loved the other ones. I went up the stairs to encourage him to try it and then had to follow him down. I had to overcome a severe case of claustrophobia for that feat as I hate enclosed and tight spaces like this slide. We prefer more open slides, but Brody went down numerous times after this and loved it.

He was very proud of himself for doing it all by himself.

Cooper demonstrated for Evan how to go down the zebra slide on a float.

He did it but never seemed to love it. I think he prefers the slides without floats.

Happy water baby!

He is so silly!

It wasn't an easy feat to make the boys pose together for a picture. Evan and Cooper just think they are too old for such nonsense these days. Sigh. Brody did love following Cooper around, and you would think they were the brothers. Haha!

After eating lunch at a K-town landmark known as Pizza Villa where we spent many of our early school dismissal days eating lunch, we headed over to check out this little nature museum. Cooper demonstrated how to touch a horseshoe crab. Evan wasn't so brave although he did manage to touch one at the aquarium the next day.

Ugh, yeah, these are not my friends. North Carolina boasts several varieties of very poisonous snakes like this copperhead and rattlesnake, and I take no chances and avoid them all.

These animals were a little cuter. The bird loved singing "happy birthday." I think the prairie dogs and even that little skunk lying on his back were pretty cute, and turtles are always a hit.

But these creatures....ahhhhh! Yep, they are the World's Most Dangerous Creatures! Haha!

Yikes, does that mouth need a cleaning. I feel like I needed to scrub that tongue. Haha! The boys loved playing inside though.

Brody investigated being digested in the stomach. Yes, I am that mom who told him he came out as poop. Haha!

And exploring a giant heart. The big boys had already left him to do big boy things, but we enjoyed being entertained by Brody.

A little replica of the local hospital which actually had an under the sea theme inside. Brody also entertained us with a puppet show and a magic show. He is a multi-talented guy.

Poor little Mattox still wasn't feeling well as he watched from the stroller. He is just so sweet. Maybe he was being hypnotized by the Foucault Pendulum? Have you ever just watched one of these? The principle is that it shows Newton's Laws of Motion at work as the pendulum never stops moving as long as nothing contacts it. It appears to move in different directions throughout the day, but you have to realize that the pendulum isn't moving or changing direction so it must be the floor and the earth that is rotating.

As their last fun activity together, we took a little train ride. Brody may have developed many other interests lately, but he still appreciates a train. He loved spying things like this horse and totem pole on the ride.

There were also miniatures of local buildings and a cave with a BEAR! Yikes!